During my first term at primary school, I found it..........found the joy of speech and I am still savoring each moment.

During my first term at primary school, I found it almost impossible to make myself understood. For six years, my mother had been my translator as she always understood each word that I spoke. So, when I went to school, I was shocked to learn that no one understood what I said even though I had said it as plainly as I could.

To make matters worse, the more people did not understand, the more nervous I became. This drove me insane and I cried each time I came home, swearing that I would not go to school again. But, the next day, my mother would give me a hug and shove me onto the school bus.

My loving teacher finally diagnosed my problem. Sister Elizabeth found that I was simply talking too fast to make any sense. So she sent me to a special teacher. Every Wednesday and Thursday, Mrs Wong sat patiently beside me and made me pronounce each word by following her tap. "Don't run, slow down," she tried to keep me to her rhythm. Poor woman! At the end of each session, she would be drenched in sweat. At times, I felt that she was losing her patience as she tapped her ruler loudly. Then, she would always calm down again as she noticed my stammering.

She also gave me a lot of tongue twisters to practice at home. "Betty had a bit of butter and put it in her batter and made her batter bitter," I would mumble to myself as I sat in the bus. I would drive my mother crazy with all the mutterings in my room. I was so caught up in learning those tongue twisters that I forgot what it was like to speak like a normal girl. My mind was always racing ahead of my tongue. As a result, no one understood a word I said.

Yet, Mrs Wong did not give up on me. She tried shorter phrases and asked me to feel every single movement of my tongue instead of rolling it too quickly. I wrote each phrase on a card and pronounced it in front of her. My mother had bought a car and decided to send me to school. In the car, I could sing and practice loudly which was what I could not do while in the bus. We must have seemed like an odd pair, my mother singing loudly with the radio while I mumbled to myself all the way to school.

At the same time, I had finally made a friend. Mrs Wong had asked Katherine to introduce herself to me. She also became my tutor, listening to my pronunciation and correcting it. I became more confident and relaxed as I found that we had a lot of things in common, thanks to Mrs Wong.

The following term, my classmates finally understood what I was saying. I am still likely to rush into torrents of meaningless words whenever I am nervous but I finally feel free. I have found the joy of speech and I am still savoring each moment.

Summary: In school, no one understood a word that I said. What was worse, the more they did not understand, the more nervous I became and the situation drove me crazy. I cried and felt like quitting school. Then, I attended speech therapy classes with Mrs Wong. I had to pronounce each word as she tapped her ruler. At times, I felt nervous and stammered. I also had to practice tongue twisters everywhere I went. I wrote each phrase on a card and practiced every day. Then, I found someone who helped me in my speech as well as became my close friend. I felt more confident and relaxed. I am thankful to Mrs Wong. When my classmates finally understood me, I felt free and happy. I also discovered the joy of speech.